O'Connor hails Birmingham's Faddy

Birmingham striker Garry O'Connor has hailed the signing of his Scotland international team-mate James McFadden from Everton in a £5million deal.

Despite rumours of another club making a last-minute move last night, McFadden completed his medical and signed a three-and-a-half year contract, with an option for a further two years, this morning in a deal that could eventually cost Birmingham £6million.

After the deal was completed, O'Connor said: "This is a great positive for Birmingham. I've worked with James in the past and he is a fantastic player. It is a great addition to the squad. He plays in any position - midfield or striker - so he is great to have him in the team.

"We played a couple of times together for Scotland and James never loses the ball and he has got that passion and commitment towards the game. He fights for every ball. He has got that attitude that if he loses the ball, he gets so frustrated and has to run back and chase people.

"He has got that little bit of quality which you have seen at international level and now probably in the Premier League. He can score fantastic goals from anywhere on the pitch."

McFadden hit the headlines last year when his goals almost fired Scotland into Euro 2008. His strike against France at the Parc des Princes is already considered to be one of Scotland's greatest goals.

McFadden signed before noon, so the 24-year-old can go straight into Alex McLeish's squad to face Chelsea tomorrow, along with fellow new-signing David Murphy, who joined from Hibs yesterday in a deal that could be worth £2.5million.

Comments

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This is a brillaint signing for the blues .... if he teams up well with O'Connor as you know he can you have a formidable partnership in the offing.. I'm really surprised Everton let him go to be honest..

Comments from Toffees seem to indicate they're not all that bothered - could be sour grapes I daresay. As a Scotland fan my complaint was that he always tried to do too much and when it didn't come off he got frustrated and then either started lunging into tackles or lost the ball. This was under Berti Vogts mind and we were gash all round so he possibly didn't feel confident in who he might pass to. He was a bit of a revalation in the Euro 2008 campaign of course and perhaps will relish a new lease of life and of course teaming up with McLeish. Not sure where CowesBhoy is coming from - next he'll be saying that Boruc is worth more than £9 million!

Boruc wouldn't got for less than £12million because of the new contract he is on. As for Faddy - he'll do well, I really hope he does, but it's a gamble for Birmingham because if they do go down they may have a problem financially.

Ah - so is the inference here that Boruc is definitely on his way and that the contract is merely a way of generating as much cash as possible? Apologies for hijacking this page with risible (and probably uninteresting to most) SPL chat!

I'm not claiming to speak for the majority view, whatever that is, but the Boruc situation is probably the same as Petrov - we all know he is leaving, so get him on a long contract so we can maximise the cash we get for it. Some would shoot me even for suggesting it, but it makes sense!

Nothing wrong with SPL chat - our manager obviously is still looking up there for players and if Murphy goes on to be as good as we all hope he will, then we may have picked up a bargain without wasting cash thrown at clubs in our own league!

To be honest it's not the signing of Faddy that has really surprised me, it's that we actually paid this sort of cash out and, apart from the Sky Sports News claims last night, it all went through pretty easily!